Nokta

Nokta ("dot" in Turkish) was a Turkish weekly political news magazine launched by Ercan Arıklı on 1 March 1982 as Nokta ve İnsanlar.^[1] A year later it became Nokta, and continued thus until 2007 when it was closed under military pressure.

In March 2007, Nokta ran a story, written by its Editor in Chief, Ahmet Alper Görmüş, revealing a confidential campaign of the military blacklisting some journalists and press organs, based on a leaked report prepared by the Office of the Chief of General Staff categorizing journalists as "trustworthy" (pro military) and "untrustworthy" (anti military).^[2] While the military acknowledged the existence of such a list, they declared that the version published by Nokta was "only a draft".^[3] The newspaper Sabah says that Nokta's report does not conform to the format used by the military.^[4]

Later that month, Nokta published excerpts of a diary, written by admiral Özden Örnek, a former navy commander.^[3] Following the publication, the magazines offices were raided by the police in a three-day operation.^[5] The diary detailed two plans for a military coup, both by the commanders of the army (Aytaç Yalman), navy (Özden Örnek) and the air force (İbrahim Fırtına), together with the gendarmerie chief (Şener Eruygur), and aiming to overthrow the AK Party government in 2004.^[6]

Subsequently, its owner, Ayhan Durgun, discontinued the publication.^[3] Görmüş joined the daily Taraf,^[7] where he criticized journalists who were aware of the diaries for not revealing them.^[8]

Coup diary

Main article: Sarıkız, Ayışığı, Yakamoz and Eldiven

In 2007, the now-defunct weekly published portions of a diary purportedly belonging to the retired general Özden Örnek, indicating that three coup plans were prepared: Sarıkız (blonde girl; idiomatic for 'cow'), Ayışığı (moonlight), and Eldiven (glove).^[9][10] Admiral Örnek himself called the diary a forgery.^[11] The Armed Forces has prevaricated on this issue without denying its authenticity altogether.^[12] For his part, general Tolon said he found no reason to object to the publication of the diaries since it contained no false statements about him.^[13] The diary was not used as evidence in the 2455 page indictment.

The diary agrees with minutes of the meeting on which the diary was based. The minutes were found in the home of retired captain Muzaffer Yıldırım who, along with Tolon and Eruygur, was detained in the frame of an investigation into a conspiratorial organization named "Ergenekon".^[6] On this basis, it has been claimed that the diaries are authentic.^[14]

These excerpts were later cited as key evidence in the March 2009 indictment of a round of suspects, including retired generals Eruygur and Tolon, arrested in the course of the ongoing investigations into the alleged illegal Ergenekon organization and charged with plotting to overthrow the legal government of the Republic of Turkey.^[15]

See also

• Censorship in Turkey

References

1. ^ Akdağ, Emin (2004-07-05). "Darbe ile başladı, değişimle noktalandı" (in Turkish). Aksiyon 500. http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/detay.php?id=11974&yorum_id=1. Retrieved 2008-09-23. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ E. Baris Altintas, Ercan Yavuz (2007-03-09). "New military media scandal exposed". Today's Zaman. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930203735/http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=104933. Retrieved 2007-09-28. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Magazine that revealed ‘coups’ ends publication". Today's Zaman. 2007-04-21. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=109073. Retrieved 2007-09-28. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Demir, Metehan (2007-03-11). "Medya andıcı korsan çıktı" (in Turkish). Sabah. http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2007/03/11/gnd117.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
5. ^ "Nokta magazine raided by police". Turkish Daily News. 2007-04-14. http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=-603762. Retrieved 2007-09-28. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Mavioglu, Ertugrul (2008-11-15). "2003 was a year of coup plans, shows report". Turkish Daily News. http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=-635136. Retrieved 2008-11-15. 
7. ^ Medyaironik, Taraf.
8. ^ Görmüş, Ahmet Alper (2008-07-04). "Nokta Günlükler’i bosuna yayimlamis! Gazeteciler zaten her seyi biliyormus!" (in Turkish). Taraf. http://www.taraf.com.tr/yazar.asp?mid=1112. Retrieved 2008-09-04. 
9. ^ Kuzeyri, Alaz (2008-07-02). "Ümraniye'den Sarıkız'a" (in Turkish). Taraf. http://www.taraf.com.tr/haber.asp?id=11874. Retrieved 2008-07-12. 
10. ^ Görmüş, Ahmet Alper (29 March-4 April 2007). "Geçmiş günler, geçmemiş gündemler" (in Turkish). Nokta 22: 4–7. 
11. ^ Berkan, Ismet (2008-07-01). "Sarıkız ve Ayışığı'nı hatırlayalım" (in Turkish). Radikal. http://www.radikal.com.tr/Default.aspx?aType=Detay&ArticleID=886153. Retrieved 2008-09-24. "Benim hiçbir zaman günlüğüm olmadı. Komutanlığım döneminde, şifreli şekilde günlük faaliyet planları tutuldu. Ayrılırken de bilgisayardan sildirdim. Burada yer alan bilgilerin pek çoğu o dönemlerde bazı internet sitelerinde ya da dergilerde dedikodu şeklinde çıkmış haberler. Bunlar bir araya getirilerek bana yakıştırılmış" 
12. ^ Görmüş, Ahmet Alper (2008-06-27). "Üç Genelkurmay belgesi, üç farklı tepki" (in Turkish). Taraf. http://www.taraf.com.tr/yazar.asp?mid=1042. Retrieved 2008-09-04. 
13. ^ Kurt, Nurettin (2008-07-08). "Arşivinde Yaşar Paşa belgeleri" (in Turkish). Hürriyet. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/9380225.asp. Retrieved 2008-11-15. "Kamuoyunda darbe günlükleri olarak bilinen günlüklerde benimle ilgili kısımlarda herhangi bir yanlışlık görmediğim için bu konuda tekzip yapma ihtiyacı hissetmedim. Çünkü herhangi bir şekilde kişilik haklarım zedelenmemişti." 
14. ^ Baransu, Mehmet; Kuseyri, Alas (2008-03-26). "Darbe belgelendi" (in Turkish). Taraf. http://www.taraf.com.tr/haber.asp?id=3665. Retrieved 2008-11-05. 
15. ^ Birch, Nicholas (2009-03-25). "Turkish Court Indicts 56 on Coup Charges". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123799997744540001.html. Retrieved 2009-03-25.